Hotmail + Windows Live Mail = Windows Live Hotmail

Just when you were getting used to Microsoft's new "Windows Live Mail" branding, Microsoft goes back to Hotmail.

As of February 8, according to the Windows Live Mail blog, Windows Live Mail is now officially known as "Windows Live Hotmail." And MSN Hotmail also is about to get rebranded as "Windows Live Hotmail."

Once the final Windows Live Hotmail service goes "live" (sometime in the next few weeks, it sounds like), all Windows Live Mail and MSN Hotmail users will be on the same page and using the same back-end infrastructure -- the infrastructure that current Windows Live Mail beta testers have been on for a while now.

While I've ranted plenty about the Windows Live team's total branding ineptitude, I agree with Windows Live Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Brandon LeBlanc. I think this change makes sense. Hotmail is a known brand. Why mess with it?

As an MSN Hotmail hold-out, I'm just hoping that the transition to Windows Live Hotmail goes a lot more smoothly than did the one to Windows Live Spaces last year.